New school technology bringing concerns

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TimberTeach Web

TimberTeach’s website allows students to receive help with any laptop troubles and fully understand how the laptops will help in class.

James Shepard, guest contributor

The 21st Century, the technological era, the age of cutting edge science and discovery, are we in the future, or stuck in the past? We, as a school, are taking steps towards a more electronic oriented time period, but at the same time there are certain problems holding us back.

All across the country, schools are trying to incorporate new technology within the student’s life and work towards the future. However, while the administration may be trying new options, the student and teachers may have different ideas for how things should be run.  

Some students have complaints about the use of the laptops, if there is any use at all. Some teachers actively use the laptops to help the students learn the curriculum earlier, and give them the ability to access the information from anywhere, but some don’t even acknowledge their existence.

“In some classes we don’t even use them,” freshman Marisa Luparello said. “I don’t even have to carry my computer on A-days because I have no use for them in those classes.”

While some students may think not having the computers all day as a bad thing, there are those who appreciate the extra space inside of their backpack.  The laptops weigh about five pounds, and the case adds an extra inch of space taken up.

“We have to carry around this weight in our bags, that we might only use once a day,” freshman Donte Simpson said. “At this point I might even favor the pen and paper.”

Of course, there are some teachers who actively use them to incorporate education within the classroom and at home, but even these are limited.

“I see the computers as learning opportunities, as tools of education,” freshman Titus Ou said. “However the computers have a huge downside, because we can’t download the extensions that we need on them.”

The computers have been access restricted by the administrative staff in an effort to protect the school and the students, which has been very effective. However, some students believe that there should be a way to  go the the staff and try to convince them of a program needed for their class.

On the other hand, the teachers have only had a few months to get used to the new advancement. It may take the teachers a little bit of time to adjust to them, and since only one grade has these laptops, it may be harder to incorporate them if they’re other classes don’t have their own computers.  On top of that, these computers have created mixed feelings for teachers among their students.

“These computers have created a lot of fear in the teachers with  the new technology,”  english teacher Cheryl Collins said. “There is also the fear that the students may know more than the teachers, and that can create some anxiety.”

Overall, the school computers have tried to take a step towards the future, but for the most part, most classes simply do not have a use for them, and if they do, then they are provided.  Whether or not the school wasted their money is entirely dependent on where and how the technology is used, but at the moment it seems to have hit a bump in the road, preventing the future from ever coming.